Atlantic Yards’ investor slaps eight-year timeline on project

The Chinese investor that snagged a majority interest in Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards development is looking to complete the $5 billion project in just eight years. Zhang Yuliang, the chairman of state-owned Greenland Holding Group told reporters in Shanghai last week about his intended timeline for the development.

“We have development funds, development expertise and experience and an enormous customer base,” and Forest City has the local execution capability, Zhang said, according to the Wall Street Journal. The eight-year timeline would require the construction of nearly two towers a year, though in the decade that Forest City has been involved in the project, it has only started work on one of the 15 planned towers and has completed the Barclays Center, according to the newspaper.

A Forest City spokesperson declined to comment to the Journal about the timeline. Last week, the developer sued to receive further tax breaks at the project, despite having received at least $761 million in subsidies and tax breaks so far. [WSJ] – Hiten Samtani

If Bruce Ratner can’t build one building with $761+ million he should go to jail for wasting tax payer money… until he either pays the money back or builds what he promised. Now a guy from another continent is managing the project? What idiot approved this!?